Mike,
I don't think this is 100% correct. Seven of the 4-letter county codes in
WØQE's list don't align with the CQP codes used this past weekend.
WØQE CQP
LOSA LANG
MDOC MODO
ORNG ORAN
SBNT SBEN
SDGO SDIE
SLOB SLUI
My statement regarding unique county codes only holds true when you prepend the
2-letter state code in front. For example, there are 12 states with POLK
county. Guess how many WASHINGTON counties there are in the US.
I haven't followed this topic very close, but I know the MnQP changed from
2-letter to 3-letter codes last year. The other time I saw a discussion thread
was when the 7-Land QP was run. This brought the topic into focus because all
of the "7" states were active that weekend. CLARK County is a popular name out
west, appearing in 4 of the "7-Land" states.
I'm not sure whether pursuing a list of 3077 unique identifiers is necessary
for software that supports QSO Parties. But it does appear the QSO Parties are
rising in popularity. As Dave - K8CC pointed out, the software
vendors/programmers have more of a vested interest in this. I don't know how
much programming effort is needed to keep all of them current. Maybe it's a
moot point.
But to Dave's point, how do they stay in the loop regarding this kind of issue?
I think they did a great job with the ADIF and Cabrillo specifications. Maybe
that is the vehicle to discuss the "county issue" among the programmers.
That's my 2¢ on the topic...
73 de Bob - KØRC in MN
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Mon, 09 Oct 2006 11:09:05 -0400
From: Michael Keane K1MK <k1mk@alum.mit.edu>
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Contest Rules
To: cq-contest@contesting.com
Message-ID: <7.0.1.0.0.20061009104215.03633eb0@alum.mit.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed
MARAC adopted W0QE's list of 2x4 county abbreviations for the County
Hunters CW Contest because the managers of that contest do have to
deal with all 3076 counties being in play at once.
Whether such a unique-id is of value in regional QSO parties or on
weekends when several QSO parties are held is up to the sponsors to decide.
The "2 x 4" refers to a two letter state abbreviation plus a 4 letter
county abbreviation.
73,
Mike K1MK
At 10:20 PM 10/8/06, David Pruett wrote:
>Dave,
>
>I'm the logchecker for the Michigan QSO Party, and write logging
>software as well. I've never heard of any "standardization" effort. If
>the instigators of this want to gain wide acceptance, then they should
>make it know to those who have the most invested. Also, I doubt that
>many contest sponsors are interested in reworking their scoring
>practices. Most of these events already have standard county lists
>appropriate for their state.
>
>I don't even understand what a "2x4 county abbreviation" is.
>
>Dave/K8CC
>
>David Robbins K1TTT wrote:
> >> Mal,
> >>
> >> I believe the California folks are leading the charge to implement the new
> >> 2x4 abbreviation list that makes all 3000+ USA counties unique. The new
> >> list creates a standard for all logging/contesting software authors to
> >> use. They won't have to constantly update county lists. The abbreviations
> >> will become consistent, like the DXCC countries list.
> >
> > Yeah, and that list only has to be updated every couple of months or so...
> >
> > David Robbins K1TTT
> > e-mail: mailto:k1ttt@arrl.net
> > web: http://www.k1ttt.net
> > AR-Cluster node: 145.69MHz or telnet://dxc.k1ttt.net
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > CQ-Contest mailing list
> > CQ-Contest@contesting.com
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
> >
>_______________________________________________
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Michael Keane K1MK
k1mk@alum.mit.edu
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